Beginning the Journey
For Christians, last Wednesday marked the beginning of the church’s Lenten journey and preparation for Easter, the time when Jesus died for our sins and opened the gates of Heaven. It is tradition and custom in the Catholic church that during this 40 day period of awaiting Easter that members of the church either give up something truly meaningful to them or spend time putting forth energy/change in positive ways for the church (i.e. volunteering, charity work, devoting time to Biblical reading, etc) every day. Sometimes it can be challenging to determine what sort of sacrifice to give throughout the course of our 40 day journey, so if you haven’t been able to nail down your decision, here are some excellent ideas:
Things to give up:
- Candy/Sweets
- Soda
- Alcohol
- Chocolate
- Online social networks
- Video games
- Television
- Coffee
Things to add:
- Reading Bible passages everyday for 15-20 minutes
- Working at a local food shelf once or twice a week
- Attending church masses throughout the week
- Volunteering at a safehouse or high needs facility once or twice a week
- Donating food, clothing, and basic goods several times a week
- Increasing your donations to the church by a certain amount each week
- Helping someone readopt their fallen away faith (bringing them to church, talking to them about God, helping them find strength in their everyday activity)
- Funding a charity program
